Martin Keown has made a surprise claim that Tottenham could have been closer to Premier League leaders Manchester City in a title race if they had played at White Hart Lane this season.
Spurs have used Wembley Stadium as their temporary ground this campaign for all home matches while their new stadium is built for next year.
The North London club have played 14 home league matches so far this season and only managed nine victories.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side suffered their only defeat at the hands of Chelsea back in August as Marcos Alonso scored twice, but they have slipped to four draws on top of that.
Spurs are now in the race for the top four spots and are a colossal 17 points adrift of runaway leaders and champions-elect Man City.
They have been in the race for the top-flight title in the previous two seasons and Keown insists their ground switch has prevented them from being in the mix once again.
“I do feel that had they been playing at White Hart Lane this season — where Tottenham won 17 and drew two of their 19 league games last season — they would be closer to Manchester City in the title race,” Known said during a question-and-answer session for the Daily Mail.
OPINION
Spurs certainly were formidable at White Hart Lane in the 2016/17 season as they went unbeaten, but even then they were unable to beat Chelsea to the league crown. The home form has not been nearly as impressive at Wembley this year and they have had to adapt to new surroundings. However, Man City have been miles ahead of everybody else this year and even a faultless home record from Spurs still would have seen them trailing Pep Guardiola’s side. Pochettino certainly has built a very impressive side at the North London club that play some attractive football, but it seems they have missed their best opportunity to win a league crown.